investing forums :

http://www.suite101.com/discussions.cfm/investing' target='_blank'>http://www.suite101.com/discussions.cfm/investing

there is quite a bit to suite101.com . this is a link to their top 20 investment forums in order of the latest posts . as topics get old , they fall off the bottom of the list and as new posts are posted , they are at the top of the list .

there are excellent investment ideas here and Kirk is the web master . suggest you  "  lurk  "  for awhile and learn before you begin posting . they do like to keep their posts ' on topic ' so be careful of a bunch of chit - chat . those of you who wish to discuss anything on suite101 with myself are probably better served by asking me about it over here on xertech.org where it's alot more private , cause we're alot more informal over here . and just as when you worked for " X " , xerox business is best discussed between xerox family and not in a ' public ' setting with external customers listening . and suite101.com is quite a bigger arena than here .

if you read through the forums , you can see that i spend some time over there too . enjoy .

 hi kilo ,

sorry about being late in getting back to you , but i was busy trying to wrap things up today / this week before heading back to hawaii next week for a couple more months of winter still left here in the great white north of alaska .

yes , I too , suffered some losses the first few weeks on january , but hung in there and may be back to even on the year when i get my 401(k) numbers from hewitt later tonite .

it's easier to stomach losses this early in the calendar year , plus i had my best year ever since my retirement in 2000 last year ( 2004 ) . i don't expect to do as well this year overall , but there's plenty of year left before it closes in december .

no complaints on my end . beats a sharp stick in the eye anyday .  

 retirement planning :

http://www.suite101.com/print_message.cfm/...g/13785/1064904[/url]

there's more than one way to make / save money in retirement . just use alittle common sense . one of the really nice things about being retired is the control you have over your reported income .

when you work , what you make is what you pay taxes on

when you're retired , you can take your income as you see fit and in the amounts you want to keep yourself in the tax bracket that makes the most sense for you every year . 

 retirement planning :

http://www.suite101.com/print_message.cfm/...g/23373/1065747[/url]

this probably also comes under the heading of retirement investing too . as you can read  , there  is no one way to invest . no right way or wrong way . it's up to each individual investor to pick a asset allocation and investment strategy that best fits their own risk tolerance . and it's o.k. to change your methods if they aren't working .

 as usual , this isn't the specific advice of myself , xertech , bob90245 , suite101.com , or Bill Schulthesis . this is meant for educational purposes only and is food for thought . just remember whose hard earned retirement dollars it is when you decide to committ your money to a investment method .

 I have read your not a fan of annunity's. But it seems to fit my situation. I will buy one sometime between july this year and june next year. Ive read where the interest rate thats its paid out at is set every August. Last August was .0506 , 2004 was .0531. Do you think its going up this August?Buying it befor or after this August can mean a lot of money over the years.
  Do you think ARXE will every get a forum for these types of questions? ( I am a member ).

 hi big " O " ,

yes , i'm here in sunny Kailua - Kona , Hawaii  ( Big Island )  right now surfing every day . expect to be back in the great white north the first part of May .

if you call hewitt / xerox and they'll tell you how much of your aftertax principal portion of your 401(K) that you've already paid taxes on that you can take without having to take a regular distribution . there is a complex formula that states that there is a part of your beforetax 401(k) that you also have to take when you attempt to take above a certain amount of your aftertax money . you'll never have to pay any more taxes on that part that you've already paid taxes on . it's the earnings they are concerned about and will tax you on . it's a simple phone call and they can cut and sent you a check on that amount from your phone call .

you've learned one of the biggest lessons of " risk tolerance " and that is to determine your personal " sleep factor " . just spoke with Clayt this morning . he's struggling with his market performance right now . so is dick .  i set a new year to date high in my own invested portfolio . take your time figuring out what you're going to do for your own asset allocation . and don't be afraid to change your mind if you get into your " perfect plan " and it starts to fall apart on ya .    

feel free to run by the members of this forum / topic any of your ideas . you aren't the only one in this boat . others have already gone before you and now there'll be a whole bunch of new  VRIF  people behind you .

don't forget to carry some extra money with ya when you travel with Clayt. he still " short arms " picking up the tab for breaksfast , lunch , or dinner . also make sure where ever you stop that they have plenty of COLD milk .

 " 0 " ,

yes , you can take whatever portion of your aftertax principal that they'll let you have before they start making you also take some beforetax stuff along with it .

you don't ever have to worry about being taxed twice . they'll keep it straight for ya . keep in mind that it's only the aftertax principal that you've already paid taxes on . don't forget you also have all those years of deferred earnings on those aftertax dollars that you still have to pay taxes on .

putting a control on your income is always a good idea and one of the nice things about being retired . i personally use a " bucket " strategy wherein i use a bucket number one for everyday living expenses . i keep these funds separate from my other investment portfolios and at this time it consists of several year's worth of living expenses ( one to two hundred thousand or so ) in a tax free money market account . i write myself checks from this account to cover every day living expenses . this prevents me from having to make " sell " decisions based on the fact that I might need money when the market isn't right to pull money from at that point in time . clayton has been particularily good about putting himself in the lowest tax bracket every year so you'll have to talk to him about the ins and outs about it . I personally am involved in a ROTH conversion program and therefore put myself in a higher tax bracket every year than i need to in order to exist in order to convert dollars every year to ROTHs . it's just a different strategy and generally only necessary for those who will find themselves in a much higher tax bracket in later years . if i don't do ROTH conversions now , after required minimum distributions begin at age 70 1/2 , i will find myself in the highest tax bracket forever . for more details on this and other retirement planning , pick up a copy of the I.R.S. publication 590 . it's the retiree bible .

call hewitt / xerox and talk to them about what you're thinking . they're pretty good about helping you decide what to do . at least give you all your options to consider .

and , of course I know you already know big " O " , but for those others that also read these personal messages that might think that i might actually know what I'm talking about I have to put out this warning that this isn't specific investment advice from myself , xertech , or yourself . that this is strictly for educational purposes only . and that each person needs to consult his or her own investment advisor for specific advice . after all , your money is yours and my money is mine . to have and to lose .  

 secular markets :

http://www.suite101.com/print_message.cfm/...g/86836/1074279[/url]

by now you're used to disclaimers on that this isn't meant as specific investment advice from myself , xertech , or anyone else , and that probably really extends to this article .

although i personally believe in secular markets , it is no guarantee of future performance . often times we don't know we are in a downturn OR a upturn until AFTER the fact .

this is strictly for educational purposes only . enjoy and learn . afterall . it's your money at stake .    .